Chapter 1969: A Hundred Billion

"Can you grow bigger again?" Lu Yin asked.

Sapling jumped back from Lu Yin’s shoulder, and as it fell, its body suddenly grew, only to shrink again. Its size fluctuated as it bounced around Lu Yin in a little dance, making Lu Yin start growing dizzy.

"Alright, that’s enough. Stop with the circles." Lu Yin grabbed Sapling and grew serious as he looked at it. "I wonder, are you already able to enter the true universe and absorb stellular energy?"

Two of Sapling’s little branches swayed. It clearly did not understand what Lu Yin was asking, and it also wanted to keep jumping around. Sapling felt as though it had grown a little at this moment.

Lu Yin did not know how to proceed, but after thinking for a bit, he simply entered the true universe and looked at Sapling.

Sapling was clearly startled; had Lu Yin disappeared? The little plant started to panic, and its branches trembled. It wanted to find Lu Yin. It spun around for a moment and then suddenly faced Lu Yin. Sapling gave a happy little leap and vanished.

Yu Er was the only person paying attention who was not an Envoy, and her mouth fell open as she watched. What the hell? Did that tree just enter the true universe?

After entering the true universe, Sapling leaped straight into Lu Yin's arms once again.

Lu Yin laughed loudly. "So I was right—you can enter the true universe. It was definitely a good idea to let you absorb so much of Leaf King’s body. Otherwise, I would have been raising you for nothing, hahahaha."

Sapling rubbed its bright green leaves against Lu Yin's face. It was also very happy.

"Do what I do," Lu Yin ordered. He began to slowly absorb stellular energy from the true universe.

Sapling hung off of Lu Yin’s body. It did not seem to quite understand what was happening or what Lu Yin wanted, but it was definitely entertained by Lu Yin’s actions. Eventually, a bit of stellular energy started to gather, but it was absorbed by Sapling instead of Lu Yin.

Lu Yin was ecstatic. Sapling was absorbing stellular energy! Sure enough, Sapling was able to absorb stellular energy, which meant that it would eventually start to hold stellular liquid within itself, just like the Mother Tree.

This was really wonderful. Lu Yin could finally see some hope for passing through the Envoy realm.

However, there was a new problem; how was he supposed to get Sapling to constantly absorb stellular energy? Also, would Sapling be noticed by the true universe if it absorbed too much too quickly? Lu Yin was already getting a headache.

However, it turned out that his worries were completely unfounded, as it quickly became apparent that Sapling enjoyed absorbing stellular energy, and it did so seemingly by instinct.

Humans instinctively acquired nutrients to live and grow by eating food. When Sapling started absorbing stellular energy, it was gathering nutrients for itself. It also needed to live and grow, and this was its method of doing so.

Lu Yin spent a long time accompanying Sapling as it absorbed stellular energy from the true universe. He had no idea how much stellular energy Sapling had managed to absorb during this time. While he felt that it was much more than what he had absorbed himself, Lu Yin had no way of determining a concrete answer.

In light of this development, he decided to put Sapling someplace where it could continuously absorb stellular energy without being disturbed, but where?

After considering the options for a while, Lu Yin settled on the mobile fortress in the Ross Empire. Sapling could stay with the big tree that had escaped once, as long as someone kept an eye on the two plants. Lu Yin had considered putting Sapling in the pocket dimension that had once held Aeternus Nation, but Sapling did not like being alone. It was a rather active and social plant.

Lu Yin could not treat Sapling as a plant, and he preferred to think of it like a child. Sapling was like a playful child who wanted to act up and play around.

After getting Sapling to absorb stellular energy in the true universe, Lu Yin returned to the visible universe. There was a problem that he needed to deal with: how was he going to explain Leaf King's death to the Hall of Honor?

Leaf King had not been a part of the Hall of Honor, but he had made enormous contributions to the Hall of Honor over many years.

"How many Honor Points does Leaf King have?" Lu Yin asked as he glanced over at Balsam who was still holding onto Leaf King’s corpse. It had been a long time since Lu Yin had even thought about Honor Points, but he needed to consider them given his current situation. The Hall of Honor had to give the outside world an answer, and it could not afford to break their own rules.

Balsam answered in a flat voice, "Thirty points."

Lu Yin frowned. As soon as someone had more than twenty Honor Points, their death would be investigated by the Interstellar Supreme Court. The cause of death and the person responsible for the death would have to be revealed.

As an overseer, Lu Yin did not normally have to worry about people with more than twenty Honor Points, but things were different with Leaf King. His Shamrock Enterprise had too much influence, and an explanation would have to be given to the Hall of Honor.

"Ahem, Alliance Leader Lu, Leaf King has been in seclusion for many years, and essentially, no one’s ever seen him…" Yu Er hesitantly spoke up in a weak voice. She had been left nearly crippled after Leaf King's demonstration of his innate gift of absorption.

Hearing Yu Er’s words put a frown on Lu Yin’s face. She was right in saying that Leaf King was known to always be in seclusion and that no one ever saw him. Who would actually know that he had died, as long as no report was made?

Lu Yin gave Yu Er an admiring glance. The girl might be ruthless and have no sense of loyalty, but she was quite sharp. As long as this sort of person was kept safe and given the opportunity to climb higher, they would not betray anyone, but if they were ever knocked down, they would not hesitate to betray anyone.

In that case, there was no need for Lu Yin to take this girl under his wing; he would just use her.

"You’re pretty good," Lu Yin complimented her.

Yu Er anxiously replied, "Yu Er is greatly honored to serve the alliance leader."

"Many people want to work for me. Why should I accept you?" Lu Yin asked.

Yu Er had already expected this question. "Shamrock Enterprise covers the entire Fifth Mainland, and its administration is quite complex. This lowly one has spent many years in different branch offices, so I will be able to manage these matters for you without anyone noticing a thing. On top of that, I’ve already come up with a way to deceive Yan. Both Leaf King and Balsam were usually in seclusion, so Yan is the main person who actually oversees the main operations of Shamrock Enterprise. As long as he’s controlled, there won’t be any issues, and the company will function normally.”

"Finally, this lowly one is familiar with the identities of many of Shamrock Enterprise’s hidden seeds, which I believe would be of help to you."

Lu Yin glanced over at Balsam. She could no longer be used or manipulated, but Yu Er could be left in Shamrock Enterprise. Since she was only an Enlighter, she would not be able to do much harm to Lu Yin even if she did betray him.

Truthfully, Lu Yin was not very concerned about Shamrock Enterprise beyond the resources that had been left behind by Leaf King’s death.

All the natural treasures and precious plants that had been in the hidden world had been absorbed by the tree as soon as it appeared. The sole exception in the entire place was that one strange flower.

Lu Yin looked towards where it was hidden behind the waterfall. He was going to take that flower away with him.

His domain swept across the hidden world, and he brought Yan and the unconscious Little Leaf King before him.

Yan was incredibly pale as he looked at Leaf King’s body that was still being held by Balsam. He was still stunned by all that had happened, and he felt quite nervous, as he had no idea what fate awaited him.

"Deal with things yourself," Lu Yin ordered in a cold voice as he looked at Yu Er.

Yu Er gasped and climbed to her feet to approach Yan. She smiled at the man. "Secretary Yan."

Yan looked up at the girl. He had known her for a long time. She had started as a pure and innocent girl who had been ignorant to the brutal truth of the universe, but she had eventually become the most ruthless out of all of Shamrock Enterprise’s hidden seeds. Truthfully, Yan felt a chill every time he interacted with Yu Er, as she gave off the feeling that she would readily kill anyone.

It was highly unusual for anyone to make Yan afraid. No matter what, he was an Enlighter with a power level of over 400,000, as well as the secretary to Shamrock Enterprise’s president. He normally would not be intimidated by anyone who was not an Envoy, let alone someone weaker than him, but Yu Er was an exception.

Yan had no idea what Yu Er had experienced while she was away from Shamrock Enterprise. At a glance, she looked like a harmless girl who could never harm a human or even an animal, but in truth, she was a butcher.

"Secretary Yan, do you want to live?" Yu Er asked. Curiosity filled her eyes, and she looked like an eager student asking a question about her studies.

Yan's eyes flickered, and he reflexively shot a glance over at Lu Yin. The fight between Lu Yin and Leaf King had gone far beyond anything that Yan could understand, and even the slightest stray attack from that battle could have instantly killed him. Did he want to live? Of course he did!

"What do you think?" Yan retorted.

Yu Er rolled her eyes. "Alliance Leader Lu can allow you to live, but he doesn't trust you. You seem too loyal to Leaf King and Balsam."

Yan swallowed dryly. "I was simply doing my job. I’m the president's secretary, but that has nothing to do with my loyalty."

"Really?" Yu Er lifted a finger to point at Balsam. The woman was a little ways away, and her back was facing Yan and Yu Er. “Your boss is right there, so as she watches, please kill Little Leaf King."

Yan's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

Although her back was to Yu Er, Balsam trembled, and she slowly turned around to glare at the girl with cold rage filling her eyes.

Yu Er looked over Balsam and simply smiled. "I'm sorry, Big Sis, but I also want to live. Look, even you gave up Leaf King’s wealth to buy your life, right? Little Leaf King is just another resource."

Balsam said nothing as she continued to stare at Yu Er.

Lu Yin took a long look at Yu Er. The girl really was cutthroat. It was no wonder why Yu Mu had warned Lu Yin to be careful of her. If Lu Yin were still an Enlighter, he likely would not feel comfortable leaving Yu Er alive, but he had become an Envoy. Regardless of what the girl did, she would not be able to genuinely harm Lu Yin. Still, her ruthless actions and the way she treated her enemies showed Lu Yin that she would easily turn on him as well one day. At least for the moment, she could not be allowed to leave the hidden world.

Being ordered to kill Little Leaf King was completely outside of Yan’s expectations. Suddenly, he remembered something, and he looked over at Lu Yin.

Yan had been brought over at the same time as Little Leaf King, so what did that mean? Had Yu Er told Lu Yin about her plans for Yan? Or had the whole thing been Lu Yin’s idea?

The more Yan analyzed the situation, the more he despaired.

Lu Yin was curious about something. "Is Little Leaf King really Leaf King’s son?"

Yu Er answered, "This lowly one can’t answer that, but I do know that Leaf King cared greatly about Little Leaf King. He acted like Little Leaf King was deeply loved."

Lu Yin looked over at Balsam, but the woman remained silent and gave nothing away.

Lu Yin also said nothing. He did not really care about who Little Leaf King was. It was possible that he really was Leaf King’s son who had been born before Leaf King had absorbed the substance from the Mother Tree’s bark. It only made sense that it was impossible for Leaf King to have a son after his transformation. How could a tree have a human child?

There were rumors that claimed that Little Leaf King had been in cryostasis for a thousand years, or even thousands of years, but regardless, it was impossible for him to have survived since the Daosource Sect era.

There was no way that Little Leaf King was Leaf King's true son. Thus, if the man had deeply cared for the youth, it was far more likely that Little Leaf King had been adopted to serve some sort of purpose.

Yan looked at Yu Er, then Lu Yin, and finally at Balsam.

Balsam continued to glare at Yu Er, and the woman’s fists began to clench.

Yan understood that killing Little Leaf King would mean a complete and total betrayal of both Leaf King and Balsam. Yan would be no different from Yu Er, and he would never be able to return to his previous life.

"What? Are you unwilling to do it, Secretary Yan? Then I can only ask someone else." Yu Er rubbed her chin and blinked as she spoke. She looked completely innocent and naive.

Yan wanted to vomit when he saw her behavior, and he fought the urge to tear the monster’s mask off. "I understand."

Lu Yin paid no further attention to the matter, and he instead moved to a distant corner of the hidden world. Leaf King had not kept his wealth stored in a cosmic ring, but rather in a secure treasury, much like what Lu Yin had found in the Celestial Frost Sect’s ruins.

Lu Yin had already expected Leaf King to have accumulated a tremendous amount of wealth, but reality still defied all of Lu Yin’s expectations.

He felt like he had gone back in time and was looking at the mountains of star essence and star crystals on the transport mainlands that had been sent back to the Sixth Mainland. Back then, Lu Yin had seen endless mountains of wealth composed entirely of star essence. He still had no idea how much money had been there.

Back then, he had guessed that there had been at least a billion star essence, possibly a bit more than 10 billion, but in retrospect, he realized it had been far, far more.

As for the wealth that Leaf King had accumulated in the hidden world’s treasury, it absolutely exceeded 100 billion star essence.